Various methods have been studied in order to efficiently form a fine and precise pattern on a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, or the like at a low cost. For example, a printing method has been disclosed in which a resin to be printed is applied onto the entire surface of a first plate called a blanket, a surface of which is coated with silicone rubber having detachability, and a second plate having a projection-and-recess pattern on a surface side thereof is then pressed onto the surface side of the first plate, on which the resin is provided, to transfer an unwanted pattern of the resin to top faces of projections of the second plate, thereby removing the unwanted pattern, and a resin pattern remaining on the surface of the first plate is transferred to a transfer-receiving substrate (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-58921).
When a fine and precise pattern is formed using this printing method, it is necessary that a liquid composition used therein maintain an appropriate characteristic of the liquid composition, in particular, in the step of applying the liquid composition onto a first plate and the step of transferring an unwanted pattern of a liquid-composition coating film from the first plate to a second plate.
First, in the step of applying the liquid composition onto the first plate, in general, the surface of the first plate is formed of a material having detachability, and a thin, smooth, and uniform liquid-composition coating film must be formed on this surface having detachability. Accordingly, it is necessary to appropriately control a surface tension of the liquid composition.
In addition, in the next step of transferring an unwanted pattern of the liquid-composition coating film from the first plate to the second plate, the liquid-composition coating film applied onto the first plate must be completely transferred with the pattern shape remaining as it is to the top faces of the projections of the second plate to be contacted. For this purpose, it is necessary that not only the liquid composition be prepared but also a material of the surface of the first plate or the surface of the second plate be set so that the adhesiveness of the top faces of the projections of the second plate to the liquid-composition coating film is higher than that of the surface of the first plate to the liquid-composition coating film.
To cope with these technical problems, an example of an ink composition for a precise patterning in which a surface energy of a liquid composition is specified so as to be smaller than a surface energy of a blanket (first plate) by setting a viscosity value and the surface energy value of the ink composition (liquid composition) used in printing has been disclosed (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-126608).
However, the surface energy specified in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-126608 is a value determined when the liquid composition is in a motionless state. In the step of applying the liquid composition onto the first plate, a motion that the liquid composition is applied is performed, and thus a specification in which the motion is considered is necessary. Therefore, even though the surface energy of the liquid composition is specified so as to be smaller than the surface energy of the first plate, a liquid-composition coating film is not reliably formed on the first plate, and a defective portion may be generated. Accordingly, there is a problem that even though the printing method described above is employed, it is difficult to stably form a fine and precise pattern.
In order to solve the problems described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a pattern and a method of producing an electronic element with which a fine and precise pattern can be stably formed by adjusting physical properties of a liquid composition.